Only One Man
by Author Prime
Summary: After a devastating event happens to the home world of the Conians, Conia, one of the last surviving members of the species travels to earth, and is introduced to the Autobots. There is something interesting about this Conian though.
1. Chapter 1

** Alright, let's try this fanfiction thing again. My last story sucked, and I'm attempting to make another. **

I awoke to the sun shining into my eyes. It had been a orn or so after the destruction of nigh-all the Conians and I was one of the few remaining. Of those few, many had fled off world after the large cataclysm that had annihilated Conia not long ago. Unfortunently, as most of the populace had been destroyed, I couldn't keep much track of time, as you could guess. Well, a lot of what's going on will require explanation, so I shall start from the beginning. My name, Lotan, though most of my friends used to call me Lot. I'm seventeen orn old, and I think my creation day is coming up. It's on the ninth of Letan, and from the weather outside, well, I'm not sure. This is an odd planet at that.

Anyway, like I said, about a orn ago, something happened to Conia, something terrible. And I suppose that will require explanation as well. One orn and three joor ago, our scientists had discovered a large asteroid heading in our general direction. They thought that it would miss us by about a hundred sephan, but, as you can see, they were wrong. Everything was peaceful on Conia, then it came. First there was a chest-rattling blast, then fire soared high in the sky, and came raining down upon us. For those lucky enough to be exploring the Great Cave that evening, only half of them died. I was among those in the caves.

My family, my friends, all gone. I later found that half of the planet was shattered off its hinges. And by that, I mean half the planet had been ripped apart by the asteroid. Atmosphere was draining from the planet quickly, so we were evacuated to the nearest planet in our home system, Vevis. I was... forgotten in the caves, and was left as my brethren fled our home. I had no idea of their destination, so I left in an escape pod, heading I had no idea where. When I awoke from Cryogenetic sleep, I found myself on a baron rock, as it seemed. Soon I heard a loud chopping sound as large metal birds flew above. They landed near by and strange creatures climbed out pointing... something at me. I attempted to communicate with the apparent locals, but they did not understand me. One of the creatures, possibly their leader, walked up to me and made vocal noises.

"What a peculiar language," I thought to myself. "Excuse me, could you tell me what planet I currently stand upon?" I repeated, hoping they would comprehend what I was striving to say.

Two of them came to me and grabbed a hold of me, and carried me off to I know not where. We arrived at a large structure and I was placed in a room. A male creature entered and again tried to make contact with me. I looked at him curiously then around the room. He sighed, getting no where with this conversation, and pulled out a small box. He opened it, and held it to his face. He spoke into it, and then made a guesture to follow him. As we stepped into the bright of the day, I noticed that their star was yellow instead of the blue I was used to. As we exited the building, and stepped into the courtyard, a swirling green vortex appeared in front of me.

I was startled, not knowing that this species posed advance technology. We stepped through, arriving into a large complex, with large robotic organisms it seemed. One of which approached us and knelt down.

"Uh... hello," I said, looking at the large creature with puzzlement.

"Ah," he spoke in my native language, "A Conian. We welcome you into our home," he said with a voice deeper than my own.

"Could you explain why they took me from my pod?" I asked the robot in front of me.

"It appears that the one holding you was concerned for his world, as this population is native to extraterrestrial life. My name is Optimus Prime," he said to me.

"I am Lotan, but my friends call me Lot. It is an honor to meet you, Optimus Prime," I replied.

One of the creatures like the one who took me here, looked up from what they were doing. It appeared to be feminine. It- she, ran over to me and started to speak many words I did not understand. Optimus spoke to her in her own language and she exhaled, and went to sit back down.

"It would appear that they do not understand my language nor I theirs. Could you provide translations, Optimus Prime?"

"She was simply curious about who you are. She is rather... extroverted at times, and with many questions," he replied.

"I see. What species is this world? And... what is this world's designation?" I requested from the mech in front of me.

"She is a human, and this planet is Earth. Do you mind if I question why you are not on your home world, Conia?" he asked me.

"It was destroyed by a large asteroid one orn ago. I was left in the evacuation, and I took an excape pod to this world. Speaking of this world, where might I learn their language?"

"I shall make sure you are accustom to it if you plan on staying on this world. As for your planet, I am deeply grieved. I also had those who I knew on your world. How many survived?" he asked.

"Not even one tenth the total population," I said with sorrow in my voice. A look of sadness also crossed the mech's faceplate.

The man behind me spoke to Optimus, and the mech translated. "He wishes to know what you are doing on Earth. Shall I explain?"

"Of course," I replied, then I was lost to my own thoughts. After a lenghty conversation with the 'human', Optimus turned to me.

"Surely you must be tired after such a journey. Allow me to lead you to your quarters," he said, guesting towards a part of the base further in. I followed the Prime and started to walk through the hallway. We arrived at a rather large door in comparison to what I was used to.

"I apologize for the height of the door, but this is only temporary," Optimus said. Then he tapped a place on the wall about my height and a panel flipped over. "The key code to unlock the door is 2683," he continued, showing me the pattern for I was unfamiliar to the human numerals.

"Thank you, Optimus. I am in your debt," I said to the large being.

"No need to thank me, I am simply provided a safe haven for a guest," he replied. I entered the quarters and went over to my berth. I saw two buttons, one with a shape pointing up, and one with a shape pointing down. Curious to what they might do, I pressed the one pointing up, and nothing happened. Then I pressed the shape pointing at the ground, and the berth lowered.

"Huh, it must have been at its highest point," I stated to myself as I lay down and shut my eyes.

** Quick time measurement translation here:**

** Orn – year**

** Joor – month **

** Mega-Cycle – week**

** Solar-Cycle (or just cycle) – day**

** Breem – Hour**

** Klick - Minute**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** Along with a great author here on fanfiction, Crystal Prime, I have declared war on Satan. And I'll be posting verses every day to go with that battle. A thanks goes out to Crystal Prime, for being such a great source of wonderful writing and wonderful stories. Thanks be to ya! Anywho. **A/N**

I awoke startled, then I remembered where I was. I sat up from the berth the Prime generously provided for my stay at the base. I entered my code for the door, then exited my quarters into the hallway. I wandered down the hall until I reached the main room of the base.

"I see you're up early," Ratchet said to me as I walked in his general direction.

"Not really, I wake up about this time every cycle. Well, I'm not sure, on my home world I gathered nine breems of sleep a cycle, but I have no idea how long the cycles are here," I stated to the CMO.

"Breems on this planet number twenty-four, unlike the twenty you received on Conia. Are you adapting to this planet well?" He asked me.

"As well as can be expected. I wish to learn the native language, though," I replied to the medic.

"I will give you a data package containing the English language. Conians learn quicker than any other race if I remember correctly,"

"Yes, we do. Thank you for the data," I said as I grabbed the tablet from the table and walked off to my quarters. Once I arrived, I sat and began looking over the information. Ratchet had been kind enough to translate it into Conian. According to the data, there were more than six thousand languages on this planet. _I wonder why humans do not wish to understand each other, with all these dialects, _I thought to myself. I skimmed over the information, taking notes in my helm of it. Once I was complete, I tried pronouncing some words that had confused me.

I journeyed out into the main room once again, and tried the new language. I spoke to the young boy sitting on the couch.

"Hello there," I said to him.

"Hello. I see you have learned English already," he stated to me.

"Yes, I have. Conians have a great memory and can learn things rather quickly," I replied.

"I see. Well, welcome to Earth. My name's Jack,"

"I am Lotan. Though some call me Lot. It is a pleasure to meet you, Jack," I said to the human. Just then, the female of many words approached me.

She spoke to me, "I'm Miko. Can you transform? What species are you? Are you an alien? Why are you on Earth? What's your name? How did you get here?" She kept on talking as my mind wandered.

"Jack, is she always this… outgoing?"

"Yeah, that's Miko for you. I guess you'll just have to get used to it. Miko, leave the poor guy alone," Jack said to the young girl. She huffed, then went to sit back down.

"But don't think I won't get my answers somewhere," she said as she left the room.

"I do not believe I have had the pleasure to meet you, young human. What is your name?"

"I'm Rafael, but everyone calls me Raf. Welcome to our planet," he said politely. "If you don't mind me asking, why _are_ you on our planet. Don't you have somewhere to stay?" he pondered.

"My homeworld, Conia, was destroyed by an asteroid one orn- er, one year ago, by human terms. I sought refuge here, and Optimus accepted me into your base. The one called Fowler brought me here," I answered the boy's question.

"I see, well, once again, welcome. I see you've learned English pretty well, but if you need any help, I'm free most of the time. School's easy enough for me," Raf said to me.

"School..?" I asked.

"Um, education. Kids have to go to school to be educated up to age, like, seventeen," Jack answered my question. "Speaking of age, how old are you?" Jack asked.

"I am seventeen orn old," I started, "but in your terms, considering that I only had twenty breem in a cycle, and five hundred cycles in an orn, I would be precisely 19.45970695970697 orn old," I stated, matter-of-factually.

"That's… impressive. Are all your kind as well with math as you are?" Jack asked me.

"Well, most of them. Conians have higher brain processing power than most other species, and some of us are better than Cybertronians," I replied to the adolescent.

The one known as Miko spoke up, "So, you could help me with my math homework?" She seemed rather eager about the idea of me doing her work for her.

"Supply me with a problem," I returned.

"Um, here's an easy one, what's the volume of a cylinder with a radius of 5.4, and a height of 17?"

"495.72 units of measurement," I replied quickly.

"Wow, Lot, you're really good at math. Do you have any skill in science?" she asked again.

"I am well versed in the theories of our scientists on Conia, though I am not sure how it would help you, given the planet difference," I answered her question.

"So, like, do you know about the Multiverse theory?" Raf asked me.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "What do you wish to know?"

"Well, nothing in particular, just wondering. Oh! I did have a theory about black holes last year, though. Imagine a vacuum chamber, and if you rupture the chamber, it creates a pressure difference between the outside and the inside. It would probably take quite a force to rupture it though. Now imagine if a star explodes, and the kind of force it would cause. Perhaps enough to rupture a hole in the fabric of spacetime, creating a vacuum between our reality and another," Raf pondered.

"A highly illogical theory, at that. I apologize, for our race has already contemplated the Spiral, or black hole as you call it, and have solved its mysteries. A creative theory, though, Raf," I said, feeling a bit guilty that I had crushed the young boy's theory so quickly. Though I quickly got over it and moved my processor to more interesting thoughts.

Soon enough, Ratchet returned from his quarters, and activated the teleportation device, or Ground Bridge as I learned it was called. Three more Cybertronians walked through, from what appeared to be a long term mission.

"Who's he?" A large green one asked.

"A guest. Are you familiar with the Conians?" Optimus' voice came from behind me. I turned to see him standing there. It was surprising how such a large being could move so quietly.

"Kinda. It's been awhile since I've seen one. They often keep to themselves, don't they?" A smaller blue colored one asked.

"Indeed, though their homeworld, Conia, was destroyed in an act of God. An asteroid strike hit their planet, tearing it asunder. They were evacuated, and Lotan took an escape pod and landed here," Optimus explained to the other bots.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the blue one said. "I'm Arcee, this is Bulkhead," she gestured to the green one, "and Bumblebee," she said, pointing to the yellow one. "I take it you're Lotan?"

"Yes, though you may call me Lot," I responded with a smile.

"Well, Lot, if there's anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, just ask," she said, then she walked off to her quarters, as did the others, bar Bumblebee, who stopped in Med-Bay for an apparent routine medical assessment. After about three scans, he walked off, probably to his quarters along with the rest of them. As he walked past me, he beeped something I couldn't understand.

"Ratchet, could you give me a data pad containing Bumblebee's language?" I asked.

"It is… difficult for those not of our kind to understand him, though somehow Raf does," he mumbled not turning from his station.

"I see, thank you anyway," I said, then, seeing as the time was late, retired to my quarters.

**A/N**

Quick little note here, I've been pumping chapters out here at school for a bit while no one's looking… heh. Annnnnyway, feel free to review, if you've made it this far through this, I congratulate you. Hopefully, the chapters shouldn't ever be much shorter than about a thousand words a piece. Maybe more, but like I said, probably never less. See ya next chapter! 4/26/14 Edited grammar and spell errors.

**A/N**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Oh lookie here! An update! Let me know if you have any suggestions/alterations to make to the last two chapters… and the first two chapters. I've been slightly busy with school and.. well other things/personal issues, but that shouldn't keep me from updating every few days slash once a day, heck, maybe even twice. It depends how I feel. So once more unto the breach my friends.

It was Sunday as the humans called it, and the human children were absent for they attended a different educational service known as church. Jack attempted to explain it to me last cycle. As he put it, "We go to church to learn about God," he said.

"And who is… God?" I replied with a question, imitating the syllables made by the young man before me.

"God is the creator of the universe. And he sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins, because we were helpless without Him," he answered me. I was rather confused, for our kind had never pondered the beginning.

"Do all humans believe as such?" I returned with a question.

"No, not all of them. Those who believe that creation didn't happen by chance and that there isn't a supreme Being in charge of it all," Raf had said.

"I see," I had said. I went off to find Ratchet. Back in current time, he was in the Medical bay working on something important probably. Arcee was reading a data pad, Bulkhead was on patrol along with Bumblebee. Optimus was busy deciphering the Iacon database. Three micro-kliks later, he turned around, having had decoded a new set of coordinates. The Autobots bar Ratchet left the base. And he was clearly busy with... somethingorother. I was left to my own devices, and I had to find a source of entertainment.

The humans often gather around that... box, I thought to myself. I went over to the small box and pushed one of the buttons. It clicked and whirred, then sprang to life. It displayed images of their planet. I had apparently turned it to view announcements to the public, for a woman was in front of the viewing screen, relaying information. She pointed behind her and I saw large masses of water, much more than should be on land, I speculated.

"The typhoon has continued its path of destruction, and many are seeking cover to higher ground. The United States has already offered help for when this large storm has passed. There is an estimated four-billion dollars in damage already, and the storm has only just hit the island yesterday. Scientists say it's a category four typhoon, lucky for the island it wasn't worse," the reporter said to the recorder. I felt a dragging in my chest for these poor people left homeless by the large storm. I concentrated, thinking only of the storm, and felt a tugging in my gut. I opened my eyes to see an astonished reporter as sun shined down upon her.

"It appears we have hit the eye of the storm already, days ahead of schedule. What?" She said, taking a paper and having a short conversation to a man that had appeared on screen next to her.

"Scientists are saying that the storm has completely disappeared," she said, looking up to see the bright blue skies above her.

"It appears this act of nature has been stopped short for no apparent reason. Does... anyone have an explanation?" She said looking behind the camera. I smiled slightly.

If only they knew. I thought as I walked over to Ratchet.

"Anything I can do to help?" I asked the CMO.

"Nothing at the moment. Well, actually, you could fetch me the particle reader over there. It's on the medical berth," he replied not turning from his work.

I searched for a minute until locating it. Now, locating it, and moving it, were two different things. Given that this particular instrument had to be at least five hundred pounds, and twenty feet off the ground.

"Um... Ratchet, I have a slight problem... or two," I said. He turned to see me jumping up and down at the base of the berth.

"Ah, I forgot. I apologize," he stated. He reached over and picked it up with ease and returned to his work. "Why don't you go find Miko or Jack?" He asked.

"They're at... church," I said, struggling to remember the word, "Remember?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes yes. Could you... go... help... someone- Primus, I don't know. Just go watch television or something? You're talking too loud," he complained.

"I'm hardly talking at all," I observed.

"Well you're thinking too loud. Please, return to that wonderful box that provides endless entertainment for humans," he mumbled as he turned to the console. I shrugged, and turned to the small box. I flipped a few dials and it changed its display. I kept turning the knob until I found something that looked interesting, well, I should say caught my eye. I knew most everything on the education channels, but entertainment was a new concept to me. As I listened, it appeared they were playing music.

_If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then lie on the deck and flop like a fish!_

The television played. "Well that's interesting, and slightly engrossing," I said to myself. I changed the channel again to find a viewing labeled Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. "If they're so mighty, why have I not been informed of them. And surely they could not defeat the Autobots, or any Cybertronian for that matter." I turned the knob again. "Perhaps I should find something that is education of this planet. I could stand to know more," I said as I came upon a showing labeled, Animal Planet. I pondered this name for a minute, then turned my attention towards the box. It spouted information about creatures of the sea, and of the land. Then it turned to animals of the air, and things speculated in space. As I watched, I lost track of the time. As the topic changed from Earth, to the other planets in the solar system, I watched intently. I had a passion for space and its content. Finally, it returned to the sea, and I turned the box off.

"I can see why the humans find this educational and entertaining," I said to the medic, who was treating Arcee. Apparently, the Autobots and children had returned. "I certainly did loose track of time," I mumbled, then turned my attention to the kids.

"How was church?" I asked Jack.

"It was great. Our pastor – er, teacher, that is, preached Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, a well known sermon among history. It had most of the audience sobbing and repenting today. We all cried. Well, I know I did," he said, informing me of his afternoon.

"I am glad you had a good time. I found interest of your television. It proved quite informative," I responded.

"Good, good. It's fun to watch," he said. "Well I'm going to go check on Arcee. See you later, Lot," he said, walking off to the medical bay.

"And you too, Jack." I was left to my own devices, and after breems of television, I decided to rest my eyes.

**A/N**

I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. ...And I have no idea what to talk about. I personally can't see why people have so much to put in Author's notes. Anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** Whoo, a review. Guest, the reason I didn't explain his appearance is, not because I'm lazy, but I want you to use your imagination. I might give you little insights into how he looks later in the story, but, for those of you who've read Tom Sawyer, you won't get much of a description of looks.

When I woke up, my eyes were slightly burning after only a breem's worth of rest the night before. I entered the code unlocking the door, and exited my quarters. I was wondering if I would receive the quarters I was promised, fitting my size instead of the large bot sized ones I currently resided in. I walked into the hallway, and turned left, heading towards the command room. As I walked forward, I saw that Ratchet was still hovering over his console, while the other bots were nowhere to be seen. I went over and climbed the latter, attempting to reach the couch and the television. As I climbed, the CMO spoke to me.

"How was your recharge?" he asked me and turned slightly from his work.

"It was fine. I never could have guessed television could wear your eyes out so quickly," I replied, still rubbing the sleep from them.

"So quickly? You were watching that thing for three breems. I only wonder how you could find such entertainment from a small box sitting on a pedestal," he grumbled, turning back to his work.

"It was… informative," I said turning on the cube again. I found a smaller box by several units, and it had many buttons on it. It appeared to control the television remotely. I pressed the first button at the top of the small rectangle. Nothing happened, so I pressed the bottom button of the small box. It appears that I had the remote upside down, and the container sprang to life. I pressed buttons with arrows pointing up and down, and the volume of which the man spoke raised and lowered. I pressed the other button containing arrows, and the viewing switched. I sat back in the couch and relished not having to get up to change the view every time I wished.

"Humans and their ingenuity," I marveled, and sat back. I was occupied learning from the box, when Jack and his partner walked- well, drove in to the silo.

"We easily hit one fifty, Arcee. You never cease to amaze me," he said to the cycle.

"What, transforming into a motorcycle doesn't do it anymore?" she questioned her the man.

"Hmm? No, not at all," he joked.

"You do realize I am the only one who'll pick you up from work. Otherwise you haveta bike there," she said, deadpanning. He paused for a moment, then returned to praise her.

"You are quite amazing… and should continue to drive me back and forth from work…" he added slowly. They shared a laugh then walked deeper into the base, most likely for target practice. Just then, Bulkhead, Miko, Bumblebee and Raf drove into the base. Apparently, Raf and Bee had been racing remote control cars out in the desert, and Miko and Bulkhead had been at a "bloodsport", quoting the chief medical officer.

"You could have easily beaten those guys, Bulk," she said to the Wrecker.

The Wrecker laughed. "Right Miko, and it would have all gone well for the other audience to see a six ton mech go running into the arena and smash one of the cars."

They too walked off. Bumblebee and Raf were talking, about what I'll probably never know. They left the command room in silence aside from random beeps from buttons being pressed by Ratchet. I decided to go see where the company went, and headed off after Bumblebee. I found them in the armory slash firing range. Arcee was having a contest with Bulkhead, targets whirring and whizzing in all directions. Soon enough, Arcee scored a hit, and Bulkhead groaned. She smiled, and Bumblebee stepped up after Bulkhead went to sit down by Miko. Bumblebee took aim with his duel blasters in each arm. Arcee pulled a switch on the wall and the targets started moving. I watched as she took aim. Bumblebee was relying on quality of shots while Arcee took her time to aim. She fired at the same time as Bumblebee. Both hit their targets, and cheered. Then they turned to see the other had also scored and both expressions dropped into frowns.

"C'mon let's see some action!" Miko yelled from the sidelines. Both bots decided to take a break and sit down. Bumblebee went to grab an energon refreshment as Arcee went to visit the wash racks. As Bumblebee returned refreshed, Bulkhead stood up and the game went on.

I saw the family these humans had made and felt a drop in my heart. I walked away and went to find the leader. When I reached his quarters, I knocked.

"You may enter," the mech said in a deep voice.

"Hello, Optimus. I came to see if I might attempt a... scientific experiment of importance to me," I told the Prime.

"And what would that be, Lot?" He questioned.

"Well, I was thinking of attempting to send a signal out in deep space, and see if anyone from Conia responds. I... wish to see some of my kind. I grown lonely," I replied with a drop in my mood.

"I see. I shall petition Ratchet. Is there anything else you would like?"

"No. Thank you," I said, and went to lie down. _Perhaps I shall find Conians. Well they shall not be called Conians, they most likely have a new home world by now. I shall ask if – when I see them. _ I thought to myself as I lay in bed. I closed my eyes and drifted off.


	5. Chapter 5

**Heya, sorry for the delay. Just had a birthday. Let's call this a little... puttz of inactivity? Anyway, scripture update of the chapter:**

** Job 7:17: Be ready! **"I will come to them from before them, and from behind them, and from their right, and from their left, and You will find that most of them are unappreciative."** Satan will come from all directions. Make sure to be ready for his arrival, and able to resist it!**

**On with the chapter, hope you enjoy!**

_ "Lotan," the voice boomed in the darkness. "Lotan! Awaken!" it called again. I opened my eyes to find I was floating in the midst of darkness. It was certainly strange to float... if you've ever floated. I looked to what I thought was down, and saw black nothingness, as where the other directions. Slightly confused, and a bit disoriented, I looked for the disembodied voice, only to find nothing. _

_ "Who are you, and, where are you?" I called to the darkness, half expecting to have nothing reply._

_ "I am here, and I am not. I simply request your ear," the voice boomed again. I attempted to locate him from the sound's direction, only to fail. It was coming from everywhere at once. I have a feeling I'm not going to like this, I thought to myself. _

_ The voice spoke again, "Why have you come to arrive on such a planet?" it asked. _

_ "You know, funny story about that... Listen, what is going on? I mean, I don't usually float in the middle of nowhere that often, barring a weird story from when I was seven..." I said to the voice. _

_ "I am visiting you. Perhaps I should say, you are visiting me. You are currently at the Autobot's base on the planet known as Earth. I reside on the planet Vevis, and I come bearing this message: If they know, they will fear," he stated, even though he was just talking, it had the noise equivalent of a large ship taking off. _

_ "Know? Know what? And where's Vevis?" I asked. _

_ "I must absent from you. Remember!" he said before echoing off into the black darkness that covered the world. _

I woke with a startle. "Jeez, that was a weird dream." I got up, and walked over to a small food depositor. I ate and then left my quarters. I was walking toward the command room when I heard Optimus' door open beside me, and him walk out. He walked beside me for several seconds in silence, then he spoke.

"Are you ready to attempt making contact to your people?" he questioned.

"I am. Do Cybertronians ever had dreams?" I asked him out of the blue.

"We do, though not as humans or Conians consider dreaming. Our CPU remains active through our recharge, so that we remain fully conscious during our power down. Our 'dreams' are simply replaying last cycle's events, sometimes further back than last cycle though," he answered my question. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," I started, "I had an interesting dream last night. Mostly I was just curious."

"I see. Ratchet," he said as we entered the command room, "Are you prepared for contact?" he asked the CMO.

"Yes," he replied simply. "Lot, just speak and it should broadcast."

I took a deep breath before speaking. "Former residents of the world Conia, please respond."

No answer.

"Those of you who remain from the destruction of our home world, Conia, please respond," I said again. Just static. No answer. Just, nothing. I sighed and looked at the ground. "Either there's no one receiving the transmission... or there is no one _to_ receive the transmission," I said. Optimus looked at me.

"Do not despair. They may simply not have a transmitter. We shall try again next cycle," he said in his monotone voice. I nodded and went over to the couch where Jack and Miko were sitting while Raf was sitting in the chair next to them on his computer.

"Heya Lot," Jack said not taking his eyes away from the television screen. Apparently he was playing a video game. His thumbs were clicking away at the Xbox controller and he looked rather integrated into it.

"Hello. What are you playing?" I asked.

Jack shifted his body left and right before ducking. I wondered if, one, he had heard me, and two, if he knew that wasn't going to help him at all. After a few seconds of this, he replied, "I'm playing Halo. It's a game where you have to basically just shoot stuff."

"That is the entire purpose?" I pondered.

"Well, no. But that's basically all I can do before I die," he replied before ducking again.

"I see. And watch out behind you," I warned as I took a seat next to him. Raf briefly glanced up from his computer before returning to, whatever he was doing. Jack heeded my advice and turned around to see a storm jackal shoot him in the head. He cursed as 'Master Chief', Jack's player, died and fell to the ground. Then the storm jackal added insult to injury when he walked over Jack's dead body and started crouching and standing. Jack simply waited to re-spawn, calmly walked over to an armory, and grabbed the biggest gun he could find. When he cocked it the noise it made sounded like a cannon going off. I saw a smile creep across his face as he walked off to find the storm jackal. After about two minutes of searching, he found it, and took aim. If you thought the loading was loud, you should have heard the gun go off. The jackal, well, ceased to be, while Jack was thrown back from the recoil... right into a covenant soldier with a rocket launcher. I'd never seen a smile turn into a frown so quickly. He cursed again as the soldier repeatedly fired rockets into his player.

I got bored with watching Jack loose to these enemies, so I accessed the internal computer in my head. I quickly gained access to his Xbox, and searched until I found the file. After doing a little bit of editing, and one death by Jack later, he re-spawned to see the jackal had, not only taken out all of the enemies in sight, but had also killed itself. Jack looked at the screen pondering what the heck had just happened, while I sat there smiling to myself.

I stood up, straightened my shirt, and walked off to go see Arcee. I hadn't familiarized myself much with her as of yet. I knocked on the door to her quarters.

"It's unlocked," she called from within. I pushed the door open to find her sitting at her desk reading a datapad. She turned her head to see who had entered her quarters and greeted me. "Oh, hi, Lot."

"Hello, Arcee. How are you?" I asked as I looked around her room. They were slightly smaller than mine, but bigger than Optimus' quarters. He takes care of his soldiers first, an honorable quality, I thought to myself.

"I'm doing well. Did you need something?" she asked putting the pad down on her desk and standing up to face me. Her desk was not unlike a human desk, though it had no legs. It was fastened to the wall through two L-bars holding it upright. The desk itself was practically a large metal slab sticking out of the wall.

"Actually, I just came by to say hello. We haven't had much interaction aside from when I first met you," I said looking up at the tall femme in front of me. She eyed me curiously then responded.

"No. I guess we haven't. So, how goes the signal to your race?" she said after a moment.

"There has been no response as of yet. Optimus and I are going to try tomorrow; I hope we get a reply," I stated, looking around her quarters. She had a row of datapads on a shelf hanging off the wall slightly adjacent to her berth – probably a book shelf. She had a stand next to her berth as well, housing an energon cube atop it. On the side of her desk, she had an energon depositor. It looked similar to an Earth fountain drink station.

"Well I wish you good luck," she replied. "How are you adjusting to your current home?" she asked me.

"It's going well. Every once in awhile, I'll wake up and have no knowledge of my position, but that goes away after a few klicks. Over all, it's wonderful staying here, though I wish to see my people once again," I said wistfully.

"That's understandable. Even though there's a few 'bots here on Earth, I still miss my people, my planet," she said. Her optics were looking off at the wall like she was remembering something. She suddenly snapped back to reality, and looked at me. "Did you have anyone special on Conia?" she asked.

I took a minute to gather my thoughts. "Aside from my family, yes. There was a female explorer that was helping me explore the Great Cave, though she died in the initial blast," I said looking at the ground.

"I'm so sorry," she started. "I know how hard it is to loose someone close to you," she joined in my sadness. Then she attempted to change the subject. "You getting along well with the kids?"

"Yes. Jack seems much like a friend I had back on Conia a few orn ago," I said remembering my comrade, Mentelle. "And Raf seems most like my younger brother I had. And Miko... she's more like that crazy cousin we all share," I stated as I tried to lift the mood. Apparently it worked. Arcee and I shared a laugh.

"I'm glad to see you getting along." She put a finger up to her ear, "As much as I enjoy talking to you, I am needed in the command room. I'll talk to you later," she said as she went over to the door and left the room. I shrugged and walked over to my room and punched in the code Optimus gave me. The door slide open and I entered the room. I noticed the empty shelf that should house books or datapads. I'd have to do something about that.

**A/N **

** Sup guys. I've been working on this chapter the past day or two after I started it. I'm sorry for the lack of effort in updating within the first... what was it(?) Two weeks? Like I said, I was a little busy. Anyway, now that I'm out of that rut, I'm back to writing again. **


	6. Chapter 6

A/N

... I seriously have no idea what people put in Author's notes that makes them so long...

Scripture update!:

"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always. " **Always trust God when you're down in the dumps, and never stop striving after H**im.

I went out the door and I decided to go see what was going on in the command room. Ratchet had already activated the Ground Bridge to an unknown location and team Prime, barring Ratchet, transformed and rolled out. As the drove through the bridge, I went over to stand by the kids, ad maybe gather some insight as to where they went. "Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked no one in particular. Ratchet replied as he stayed focused to his console.

"I located a data cylinder, a vessel of ancient knowledge, perhaps of the Primes, here on Earth, which is surprising to say the least. Optimus and the team have been bridged to the coordinates I uncovered," he said.

"... I see. Do you have any idea what kind of knowledge is in it?" I asked after a moment of thought.

"I do not," he started. "It could range anywhere from weapons to medicine." He went to a side console and began typing. A map of the planet came up and it was graphed with boxes, most likely longitude and latitude.

"Any information would be good information, right?" I asked him as I studied the map. Apparently, either Agent Fowler and the government provided them with an accurate depiction, or they had visited more of this planet than I had previously thought.

"I suppose. We'll never know until we retrieve it," he said, turning his head slightly to me, then looking back at the screen. Four blips popped up on it as the Autobots' signals were being tracked.

Miko turned to the CMO and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Ratchet paused for a moment, as if he were thinking of a small task he could lay on her.

"In fact, there is." She perked up. Then she saw him holding a mop. Her gaze dropped as she took it and went over with the rest of the kids. I looked over at the children, just now noticing one of them was missing.

"Miko," I said quickly as she reached the ground and started running towards the open bridge. Jack looked over from his game to see me jump off the large platform and safety roll at the bottom, continue running, and caught up with Miko. I grabbed her wrist but she's rather wiggly when she wants to be. She pried her hand free and started off again. She reached the Ground Bridge and ran through it. I sighed, then ran after her. I wasn't about to let her get killed by fifty foot tall robots from another planet. I felt my bones start to vibrate and my stomach churn as I reached near the end of the tunnel. I exited it to see a firefight going on. The 'bots and the 'cons were beating each other up trying to make a grab for the cylinder. I spotted Miko near it and ran over to her.

"What were you thinking?!" I yelled over the battle to the young teenager. She took a picture, and shut her phone.

"What do you think I'm doing? I wasn't about to miss a smack down with Bulkhead!" she yelled back. She clearly had some judgmental issues and needed to be lectured by Ratchet, what a punishment. But later.

"Miko, you could already be dead if a somebot took one wrong step or got thrown back into you," I said as she took a good look at the data capsule.

"You know, we should probably get this back to Ratchet," she said. She pulled out her phone and dialed the medic. "Hey Ratchet?" she called.

"Miko, what are you doing, this is a secure channel. Why aren't you cleaning like you're supposed to..." he said with sudden realization. "Miko! Where are you?!"

"I'm with the data thingy, duh," she said as if it were obvious.

"The data thingy – the cylinder! Miko, I'm opening a bridge to your location. You need to come back, now!" He paused a moment and sighed. "I take it Lot is with you right now too?" he asked, but I think he already knew the answer.

"I can't come back when I could get the thingy back to you." She looked up to see the bridge off a ways. "Can you move the bridge closer?" she asked the medic.

"Supply coordinates," he said briskly.

"Uh... fifty yards?" she asked.

"Precise coordinates," he said again.

She sighed and closed her phone. She struggled to push the large cylinder as she put her whole body weight into it. I went over to help her. We struggled and strained until we were exhausted. I went over and stood in front of it to take a look at our progress.

"Miko... we only moved it three feet..." I said.

"Are you kidding me?! Here, stand back," she said. She walked back a few feet, then started running towards it. She did a flying kick into it and it didn't budge, though it did start humming. We looked at each other curiously and the front end nearest to me opened. I probably should have moved, but I was preoccupied as Bulkhead landed right behind me. I turned around to see him come down with a thud, and turned again to look at Miko. That's when a red beam hit me square in the face. I was having a bad day. That was besides the point. The next thing I remember seeing was Ratchet shining a light into my face.

"Whoa," I sat up then a splitting headache hit. "What hit me?" I asked the medic.

"Careful, you took an energy canister to the head. Are you feeling alright?" he asked me, taking a scan of my body.

"Aside from the headache, sure?" I responded. I looked around the room and saw a brief wall of code fly over my vision, then it was normal.

"I see. Lie down, I need to take a detailed scan of your processor," he said. I obeyed and lay down. I closed my eyes and saw a quick flash of green binary zoom through my head, then it was gone. I felt a small pushing sensation as Ratchet scanned my head. "Now this can't be right," he said.

"What? What isn't right?" I asked. I was a bit concerned, as you would probably be.

"The information, it's in the hippocampus section of your brain. You said you were hit by a beam?"

"Yes, that's right," I responded.

"Well, it appears that the information was jettisoned from the pod. If you had not been in the way, it would have been shot heavenward, lost to the stars," he said.

"Probably not, Bulk was right behind me," I replied looking over the large mech talking to Miko.

"Hmm. Optimus, come here," he said over his comm link. Whatever it was in my head that required his attention, it probably wasn't good for me.

"What is it, old friend?" he asked, and looked at me. He nodded in my direction as if saying, 'Hi there'.

"It appears that the information in the pod jettisoned to his CPU. And... well..." he leaned over to his audio receptor and said something only Optimus could hear. His optics widened slightly and said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, not that I understand it," he replied with a hint of curiousness in his voice.

"Listen guys," I began, "Don't cut me out. Whatever it is, I can take it."

"It looks as if... your brain is not meant for this type of information," he said grimly.

"And that means, what? I won't be able to access it?"

"Quite the contrary. The information is living, as it was created by Primes. It is... rewriting your neural net to become more like a Cybertronians. The information wishes to survive," he said slowly, choosing each word carefully.

"So... I'm going to have a Cybertronian brain?"

"Well, yes, and no. 'It', if we're calling the information that, knows an organic body will not survive with a more advanced brain, no offense, and is producing nanites to replicate more Cybertronian CNA across your body. It essence, by the end of its process, you won't be organic."

His words struck me like a load of bricks. "Not organic? What do you mean, I'll be some sort of Cybertronian-Conian hybrid?"

"The correct term is Techo-organic, but no. Most likely you will be full Cybertronian. But not if there's anything I can do about it. I will attempt to remedy the effects of the information and expel it as soon as possible. But, I wished you be prepared in the event that..."

"You can't," I finished his statement.

"Yes. In the mean time, try to relax and catch some sleep," he said as he turned over to his console and began typing. I laid back and closed my eyes to see more binary flash.

I better get used to this, I thought to myself as I drifted off.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up with searing pain in my head, or is it helm now? Whatever it is, I clutched it hoping to find relief. My vision was now completely green with traces of code running over my view. Ratchet heard my pain, and turned away from his work to take a quick scan. He took a look at the information and grunted. He walked over to a table and picked up a syringe.

I was never one for needles, so when he came at me with it...

** [~]**

"Lot, you're more mature than that, now come out," he called to me as I pulled the door shut to one of the large cabinets. I was a bit taller than my earlier six-foot self, but not tall enough to reach the handle to the door. Lucky for me it was slightly open and only required a little pulling.

"Nuh uh," I responded to the muffled voice outside my sanctuary. "You have a needle, and a that's the one medical instrument I have no care for."

"Listen, I bet you're in pain, and this'll help." I didn't answer. "Lot, I am your commanding officer, and I order you to come out of there." I didn't answer. "Very well. I shall go fetch Optimus then," he said with a sly smile on his face plate. I sure wasn't going to go against Optimus' orders. I actually respected him, so I pushed the door as hard as I could, and it slowly opened.

"As long as you're gentle," I said cautiously. Then, he grabbed my body, picked me up, and put me back on the berth rather harshly if I do say so myself.

"Gentle? I've never been the word," he said as he picked up the syringe and injected me with pain relief medicine. I groaned as it was withdrawn. "Now. That wasn't so bad was it?" he asked me.

"Well... You'll need to define bad again," I said as I rubbed my arm. The pain subsided and so did the pain in my helm. Jack entered the medical bay and walked up to me.

"You're looking more like a borg every day," he said getting a good look for the first time in my half Cybertronian body. Apparently, Ratchet had explained my condition to the children, which was good, considering, one, I didn't want to, and two, I probably didn't know what was going on well enough to give a good explanation anyway.

"A borg?" I asked. I had never encountered that word in the human dictionary I had studied.

"Oh, it's a- never mind. How you doing?" he attempted to make small talk.

"I'm doing well, if you don't acknowledge my awkward body mass and size at the time. I'm not really used to this," I replied.

"Don't bother getting used to it, you'll keep getting larger and more Cybertronian as time progresses. It's best to wait for the final outcome before attempting to grow used to this form," Ratchet called over from his workplace. "And... I apologize I could not remove the information in time, Lot. If I were to do so now in the process of the transformation, it could have devasting consequences to say the least."

"I understand, Ratchet. And it's not your fault. Quick question though: do Cybertronians always see things in green?" I asked him.

"What?" he said. Apparently they didn't.

"Well, my sight's gone completely green and there's code all over the place. I guess you don't do... that... then," I explained.

"No, we do not. It must be an effect of the information currently occupying your CPU. Let me know if you start saying random things, or weird images or thoughts pop into your helm," he said turning back to his previous position.

"I'll do that," I answered. Then I turned to the young adult, "Jack, I'd offer to play a game with you, but I think my condition would make it a tad unfair, my head being half computer and all."

He laughed. "Maybe another time then. Let me know if you need anything, alright?" I nodded and he exited the room.

"So Ratchet, can I get out of this bed. It's not like it's helping any," I asked the CMO.

"I suppose. Just don't go far," he said not even bothering to turn his head. Whatever he was doing, it was probably pretty important. I wandered out of the medical center and off to my quarters. I took the scenic route, and went around the base the long way. I was going to enjoy stretching my legs after a day cooped up in a berth. They really weren't that comfortable. I stopped for a second after I heard my name called by the femme in the Autobot ranks. I turned around to see her walking up to me.

"Hello, Arcee," I greeted.

"Hi, Lot. Out of the med-bay I see?"

"Nah, I'm still there in spirit. I had to promise Ratchet at least that much. So how are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. You're looking... interesting," she said with a look of laughter in her optics.

"Yeah, yeah. I've been better. Ratchet said I should be getting taller soon enough. I must look funny like this and only this tall," I responded as I continued walking, gesturing for her to follow with a wave of the hand.

"Not really, well, maybe a little," she let out a chuckle. "So what brings you around these parts?" she asked me.

"I just got out of the med-bay and I decided to take a walk to my quarters. You're welcome to join me if you wish," I replied.

"I think I will. But you do know that your quarters are the other way, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I decided to take the scenic way around, if you call this scenic," I drifted off.

"So where are the kids?" I requested.

"They're probably off in the command room playing their video games," she said. A curse rang out through the base, startling us both. "Yep, that'd be Jack. Probably playing Mass Effect." She put a digit to her helm and nodded. "Well I'm needed in the command room. It was nice talking to you, Lot," she said before she changed directions and walked back the way we came.

"See you later," I called after her. After a good ten klicks I arrived at my quarters and punched in the unlocking code to the door. I paused for a second, then turned around and walked over to Optimus' quarters and knocked on the door.

"Enter," he deep monotone voice said from inside the room.

"It's kind of hard to do that when the door's locked," I called through the door. I heard foot steps and a click as the door was unlocked.

"I apologize, I do not remember locking it. Is there something on your mind, Lot?" he asked me.

"Well, I was wondering if there were any data pads you weren't using. I'm kind of in the mood to read something and my shelf is pretty empty. Is there a library in the base somewhere, or... something?" I stared up at the large mech in front of me.

"Indeed. I shall remind Ratchet to show you to it for I am occupied at the moment." He walked over to his bed stand and picked up an active data pad. "Take this in the mean time. It contains an overview of Cybertronian history. It would be best if you became acquainted with it now that you are in the process of your transformation," he explained.

"Agreed. Do you suppose, when you're free, we could have another go at making contact with the Conians?" I asked him.

"Of course. I must return to my work now. I hope you enjoy the history of my- our, people," he caught himself. I guess he wasn't quite used to me being part of his race now.

"Thank you, Optimus," I said. He nodded and turned back to his desk. There were papers all over the it, probably mission reports. There was a half drunken cube of energon on the desk as well. Speaking of energon, it was looking more appetizing day after day, and normal food really wasn't. Must be an effect of the transformation, I thought to myself. I walked over to my quarters and entered the open door. I sat down on my berth and took a glance over the data. It was in Cybertronian, which made me frown. After a few seconds, the data pad rearranged its information to form Teth, the home language of the Conians. Smarter than I thought it was. I started reading. I was always interested in history on Conia, because if you know the mistakes of others, maybe you won't repeat them yourself. Something my mentor had told me orns ago.

The information contained records of the Golden Age of Cybertron up to the evacuation on the Ark. It was all very interesting. Apparently, the ark wouldn't have escaped the planet if not for a sacrifice of a dear friend of Optimus'. I thought deeply on how most of the 'bots on the base had probably lost someone dear to them in the war or they had just been separated in the evacuation. I double tapped the word Ark and read more about that. It was the final ship to escape Cybertron after the fall. Most of the others had been shot down, leading to a battle between Optimus and Megatron atop the ark. The battle was fierce, and many mechs died trying to save their race. It sunk in my sparrk how terrible the war was and just how evil Megatron was. He was shooting down ships that had no defense and whose only wish were to leave. Optimus even offered to let Megatron have the planet, knowing it was uninhabitable, but he rejected the offer.

Back in the present, I was appalled by Megatron's actions, and I didn't want to read anymore of his war crimes, so I placed the historical data pad over on the shelf and lay down on my berth. Suddenly a flash came my mind and random symbols appeared out of nowhere. The visions stop and I sat back up with a startled jump. _I think this warrants a visit to Ratchet._ I swung my feet over the edge of the berth and pressed the button to lower it. I was getting taller but I still wasn't high enough to efficiently get on and off of my bed. I did a slight jump off and went over to the door, and entered the code: 2683. I walked out of my room and started to the med-bay. About half way there, my legs gave out and I collapsed. I tried pushing myself up with my arms but it was no use. I rolled over on my back and got a good look at my body. It had silver colored metal sprouting from it all over my arms and somewhat on my legs.

"I guess that'd explain why I can't walk that well," I sighed. Lucky for me Bumblebee was walking my way and saw me. He ran over to me and picked me up.

"Primus, Lot, what happened?" he buzzed. It was strange, I half understood him, and half of it was beeping.

"Heck I don't know, I just collapsed – probably has something to do with the metal coming out of my legs. Do you think you could carry me to Ratchet? It's a little hard to walk at the moment," I asked him.

"Sure thing. Hey wait a minute, how do you know what I'm saying?" He asked. I reached up and felt my ear to find it was comprised of metal and the other flesh.

"Well that explains it," I commented to myself. "Looks like only one of my ears is Cybertronian. It'll probably come up in conversation with Ratchet later," I said

"Right right. To Ratchet," he said. He was pretty excited about someone else finally understanding him barring Raf and the other 'bots.

**[~]**

Mean while in med-bay, a large robot from the planet Cybertron was carrying a small half-robotic humanoid body with metal coming out all over it, must have been quite the sight.

"Heya Ratchet, about those random thoughts popping into my head? Would a symbol count? Also, I can't move my legs," I called over to him.

"Also, it appears that you are a foot taller than you were when you left the berth. What do you mean about symbols?" he asked.

"Well, if I had a writing utensil and a piece of paper, I could show you," I explained.

"Very well. Use this," he said as he handed me a data pad designed to write slash draw on. I mimicked the image as well as I could before returning the pad to him. "This... cannot be correct," he said in amazement.

"Well, for those of us who are stupid, what does it say?" I was getting impatient. I wanted to know what knowledge my head had offered us.

"As most of you know," he said, gesturing to the small crowd of Autobots in the bay, "energon is comprised of E1H2, or Energy one Hydrogen two, as a chemical composition. This appears to be a formula to be able to synthetically produce the type of solid energy needed for the bonding of the molecules."

"Uh, Ratch, for those of us who don't speak nerdeese?" Bulkhead asked impatiently.

"In_ essence,_ Bulkhead," the medic replied with a slight annoyance in his voice, "the key to producing synthetic energon," he said slowly, making sure the large mech understood him. Everyone in the room stood still for a minute, then Bumblebee threw his hands in the air and started rejoicing. It's not that it was uncalled for, but it was a little over the top for the scout.

"Indeed, Bumblebee, we are fortunate," Optimus said standing beside the young bot.

"Hup, hup, hup. Nobot get too excited just yet. The formula is incomplete, and requires more of the equation for it to even start coming together, which I trust Lot will provide as- _if_," he corrected himself, "it is provided to him," Ratchet said to the group. "But... it is a promising start."

**A/N**

**So. I could make the chapters longer, and take a little more time to update, or I could make then 1000-2000 words or so, and update ever other day or so. I'd like input. Until then!**

**... Turns out, fanfiction won't let me upload this to my doc manager, and I can't post it. Well, if you're reading it, it's been resolved, but sorry if this delayed it for a couple of days.**


	8. Chapter 8

** AN:**

** Sorry bout that delay, little case of writers block, plus life... the usual excuse. Also, I had an overnight across the way in Missouri along with a short computer error, but nothing that had stopped me much. Each chapter I'll try to make at least 500 words longer than the rest, or maybe 1000+ more. **

** :Normal POV:**

Ratchet stood over his work glaring down at it. He'd recently gotten other parts of the equation as Lot provided them, but it was still far from complete, and it was needed now more than ever: the energon stockpile was at an all time low. He picked up the jar of green liquid and swirled it around in the bottle. Raf came over to him as he was about to test it on an engine.

"Hey Ratchet, can I watch?" the boy asked him. He was shaken from his thoughts and looked up.

"Well, I suppose you are equipped with protective eye wear. Come over here," he responded. Raf laid a smile upon his face and walked over to where the engine was.

"Thanks, Ratchet!" he exclaimed happily to the medic.

"Hmm? Yes, yes. Now, all there is to do is to add it to the engine," he muttered. He placed the injector in the fuel compartment of the machine and it slowly drained into the object. It sparked, then came to life and revved.

"It works! Bee!" the boy called to his guardian.

"Hup hup, it requires more testing before it can be used as ammunition, and lifeblood," the CMO explained. The boy shrugged then walked off as Bumblebee called him. "Sometimes, I wish I could do more," Ratchet sighed. He took another vial of the green energy and injected it into his forearm. He staggered and fell to the ground. The next thing he knew, Raf was shouting in his face.

"Ugh, how can such a small being be so loud?" he asked no one in particular. Raf jumped off his chassis and he stood up one hand on his head.

"Are you okay, Ratchet?" Raf asked him.

He stretched and spoke. "I'm fine. More than fine, energy levels are up by twenty percent." Suddenly Optimus spoke through the comm link.

"Ratchet, lock on to Arcee's coordinates and bridge her back!"

"Understood. Arcee, decelerate and prepare for transportation."

"Negative, Ratchet," she objected, "I'm too close, and we need this energon." Ratchet sighed and looked on his screen. Ten more blips came up behind Arcee and fired projectiles. Ratchet watched as the red dots closed in on Arcee and the other dots closed in around her.

"Raf, man the Ground Bridge," he called to the human as he ran through the open bridge to aid Arcee. He flew through bridge located in the sky and landed atop of one of the seekers surrounding her. He unsheathed his swords and came at them, decapitation one of them instantly and stabbing another through the midsection. Arcee watched as the medic downed the seekers quickly, and did it with style. The other Autobots climbed the mound of rock and rushed to the medic's aid, but they saw that he didn't require any. They arrived as he offlined the last Decepticon.

"Hooah."

**Scene Change!**

"You should have seen Ratchet out there – he was in overdrive! We should all try this stuff," Arcee observed as Ratchet tossed her a vial of the faux-energon.

"Or give Ratchet more so we can take a break," Bulkhead submitted. Optimus looked suspiciously at the medic and contemplated the pros and cons in his processor.

"The initial results prove promising, but I am ordering that further testing be confined to machines, not Autobots. We need a warrior in the lab more than we need one in the field right now, old friend," he said in his baritone voice.

"Ratchet, I'm detecting a stray energon signal," Arcee called from over at the main console.

"And if we're not moving it..." Bulkhead trailed off.

"Decepticons," Optimus started. "Autobots, prepare to roll out. Ratchet, remain here. We will not require a medic on the battle field."

"But you might require another warrior. Bumblebee can handle Ground Bridge duty," Ratchet scoffed at the Prime. He paused for a moment, then spoke.

"Very well. Bumblebee, activate the Ground Bridge." The teleportation device swirled into existence, and produced a green aura. "Autobots, roll out!" the Prime yelled over the roar of the bridge before transforming and driving through the portal along with the others.

On the other side when Ratchet arrived, the other Autobots had taken cover behind a deceased tree as they spied upon the Decepticons moving crates of energon out of a mine. Ratchet huffed, and ran forward doing a front flip on to the tree and using it as a spring to the next one. He landed in a front hand spring and pushed off landing on his feet. He transformed and sped down the hill towards the Cybertronians.

As he reached the bottom, he transformed in mid air and landed on a Decepticon, riding his chassis over to the others.

"It's alright – I'm an emergency vehicle!" With that, he unsheathed his swords and ran at them slicing and stabbing as they fell to his Synth-En addicted state. The Autobots came charging over the hill bringing the extra firepower to the battle and felling 'cons as they shot. The other 'bots and Decepticons were busy with each other, and Ratchet caught a glimpse of a lighter purple one attempting to flee the battle. Naturally, he followed. The 'con had just finished climbing the fifty feet tall cliff and began running when the medic sprawled over the edge. He stood up, dusted himself off, and looked over the horizon, sunspots slightly blurring his vision.

He looked down and bent over to grasp a rock. Doing so, he took aim and carefully but lethally threw it fast and far enough to vanish into the sky line. A speck fell from the heavens and impacted the Decepticon in the helm downing him immediately. He walked over to the enemy soldier to question him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked the Deception innocently.

"Just trying to get far enough away from his Autobot stink," the Cybertronian warrior growled in response.

"Does your boss know you have a potty mouth? Maybe I should tell him in person," Ratchet suggested.

"Get melted, fragger!"

"Melted? Now there's a concept," Ratchet cautioned. His servo transformed into an ark welder. "I won't ask you a second time – Where. Is. Megatron?" he growled to the bot.

Optimus had just felled one of the last 'cons when he heard a screaming Cybertronian admitting to knowledge. His eyes widened as he looked for Ratchet. He rushed up the hill to see a Decepticon with a half-welded face and Ratchet talking to him. He watched as the CMO warped his hand into a battle sword and raised it, causing the leader to rush forward barely catching his medic before he offlined the bot.

"Ratchet! What are you doing!?" Optimus yelled to the small orange bot.

"Getting results," he growled back to his commanding officer.

"And breaking protocol," Optimus finished. "That was a Decepticon miner – Servant class, not warrior class."

"Did you happen to find an energon mine ripe for the taking?! I did! And did you also find the exact location of Megatron, because I did too! We've been squandering our resources when we should be hitting him hard, and where it hurts!" Ratchet yelled at the larger mech in front of him.

Optimus looked grieved, and glanced at the ground. "I am afraid the synthetic energon has been clouding your mind. I am confining you to base until further notice. Ratchet froze for a moment, as if he were speculating how much trouble he would be in if he directly went against his commanding officer's orders.

Ratchet turned his back on the Autobots, and began to walk towards the Ground Bridge. He disappeared into the bridge and the Autobots paused, then started walking towards the vortex.

**:Lot's POV:**

I was now almost half-Cybertronian standing fifteen feet tall. I saw Ratchet walk through the Ground Bridge I had just opened, but he suddenly stopped, then glared. He muttered a curse then turned around and ran through the open swirl, and I, being curious, followed. I could run much faster with my larger body, now. Right as I entered the bridge, the Autobots came through. I exited and saw Ratchet driving off in the distance kicking up dust and I yelled after him.

"Ratchet! Where do you think you're going?!" He stopped and threw it in reverse. He seemed to hold a larger respect for me than for my human friends, be it I was Conian, or I was half-Cybertronian, I did not know. He sped backwards towards me. I stood tall above him, well, that was until he transformed and towered over me at least ten feet.

"What do you want?" he questioned me.

"Where do you think you're going?" I repeated myself.

"I've got the location of an energon mine and Megatron – I'm going to take him down," he responded in a growl. I could tell he was angry, and he wasn't thinking straight, but if Optimus hadn't convinced him, I probably couldn't.

"Then I'm going to help you. You need it anyway, and I'm armed, you know, mostly." I held up my right hand with slight difficulty it being fully metal. The upside was I could make it transform into a small energon weapon or a sword should the situation require it. He mulled it over for a klick, then agreed to have me along.

"But you have to follow my orders to the letter, and do exactly what I say you need to. And stay hidden. And if we need, let me do the talking... it's best if you don't talk at all," he ordered. I nodded and we were on our way. It was kind of awkward riding on top of Ratchet, being too tall to fit in the cab compartment. And the back wasn't easy to get in and out of anyway.

We arrived at the enterance to a large cave by human standards, with passages large enough for a Cybertronian to walk around in robotic form. Well, probably not Optimus, 'cause he was like, a million feet tall. I stepped off and Ratchet transformed and unsheathed his swords. Megatron was just inside the cave and I could hear him talking to Starscream. I had learned a lot about Autobot and Decepticon history to know they weren't the best of friends ranging from taking the last energon cube to assasination attempts.

But I heared a third voice, speaking with an accent. I couldn't quite understand what they were saying even with awesome Cybertronian audios because there was at least ten feet of rock between us. I heard weapons fire and moved around the corner of the cave-room entrance to see a smaller red and grey mech in the grips of Megatron. Ratchet's optics opened and he spoke in a whisper.

"I had no idea he was on earth – must've just arrived. I know that mech." Ratchet charged Megatron catching him off guard and knocking him back into the wall. He growled and pushed against the cave to level himself.

"Ha! The Autobot medic? Far from safety, aren't you?" he asked my temporary commander. The mech pulled a blaster out and fired a few shots into Megatron's tank making him studder back a few steps, then other Decepticons detained the apparent Autobot. Ratchet struggled with his neck in the servo of the 'con leader. Megatron started to interrogate the medic, asking things along the line of, 'Where are the rest of you? How did you find this location? Would you rather be a ninja or a wizard?' ... Stuff like that. Ratchet said nothing.

I couldn't let this idiot get killed to I did the only thing I could – fired my peashooter at the large grey mech holding my friend. It hit him upside the helm and he staggered in what probably felt like a sting.

"What was that?!" he bellowed.

"That was my peashooter! There are many like it, but this one is mine!" I yelled back and changed him ducking under his sword, firing more shots into his back. As he swung at me, the grey mech used it as a distraction and escaped, then turned invisible, leaving me to question that later. He appeared right behind Megatron and sliced him with all the force he could muster, severing his right arm.

He howled in pain and rushed Ratchet, stabbing him to the left of the spark with his sword. It only penetrated about a foot before both the mech and I tackled him. Just then, the other Autobots arrived bring the hurt. Seeing he was outnumbered and at a disadvantage, he grabbed his arm, transformed, and rolled out. The mech finally spoke.

"Ah, Ratch, ya didn' need ta go an' get yaself hurt. Ya coulda just punched him or somethin' like that." He spoke in a thick southern accent, almost hard to understand if you hadn't been around him for long, like me.

"Now you're an interestin' lil creature, don' reckon Ah've seen one of ya round the universe," he looked down at me.

I paused for a moment translating what he said in my helm. "I'm from the planet Conia, and am being transformed, pun intended, into a Cybertronian. You may call me Lot," I replied. "It's not like I don't want to talk, but being there's a ton of 'cons around here, we should probably be getting back to base."

"Agreed," Optimus said. "Rafael, open the Ground Bridge." A swirling portal appeared before us and we walked through. Texan looked around and decided to get acquainted with the locals. I followed him over to the kids hoping to at least catch his name.

"An' what'r these critters?" he asked. Jack spoke up.

"We're humans, uh, and this is Earth. I'm Jack." He looked rather surprised, not ever hearing a bot with an accent before. He might have just been shy, I dunno.

"Nice ta meet ya, Ah'm Jazz, but you can call me Jazz. And you'r?" he asked towards the other children. Jazz, huh, pretty sure I read about him somewhere in the history archives. I pulled out my tablet and searched his name to find he was the SIC of the Autobot troops and a caring leader.

"I'm Miko. Where are you from? From Cybertron, right? How long have you been here? Why do you talk in an accent? Were you in the South? How old are you? ... Oh. And this is Raf," she said pointing to the young boy who was giving her an annoyed look. Raf gazed up at the bot and waved a quick hello.

"Nice ta meet ya as well. Can Ah speak ta O.P.? Been awhiles since Ah last saw him," Jazz questioned.

"Sure thing. I'll give you a tour of the base later," Miko replied quickly, then ran off with Jazz following her over to Ratchet and Optimus having a conversation. Ratchet was on the med-berth with an energon cable plugged into the left his chasis after being stabbed. He had another cable attached to the right side of his spark chamber siphoning out any Synth-En that had remained when the rest of it had its exodus from his body.

"Jazz, it has been awhile," Optimus baritoned to the saboteur before giving him a short hand shake.

"I reckon it has been too many vorn, O.P. How ya been holding up with the Hatchet?" he asked the leader. After listening to conversations around the base I figured out that Hatchet was the twins', Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, name for Ratchet. He was well known for chucking wrenches at unwanted mechs or femmes when he was either working on something important, or wanted to be left alone.

"Indeed. He has not caused prolong troubles. How have you fared after the exodus of Cybertron?" he replied with a question. I read that the fall had been centi-vorns ago, so they must have been separated for quite some time.

"Ah been jumpin' around from rock ta rock for the last ten vorn or so, met some people, lost some people, been quite ta ride. Ah see you made friends with some of ta natives here?"

"Yes, but the majority had no knowledge of us. These few are three of five not counting Lotan."

"Yeah, Ah don' believe he counts bein' half 'Tronian and all. What happened ta em?"

"Do you recall the data cylinders of before Cybertron's Golden Age?" He got a quick nod. "One ejected its contents into his mind, transforming the body along with it to survive. We have yet to remove it," Optimus explained.

"Ah see. Well it's lovely talkin' ta ya, but Ah'm flat out tired. There wouldn' happen to be a small room, or even floor, Ah can lie down on is there? Ya know Ah can sleep on a rock," he continued.

"Indeed. Follow me," Optimus gestured for the mech to come with him. I watched as he led Jazz to his new quarters. I turned around to 'The Hatchet' and spoke.

"You know that mech?" He opened his optics and turned his head to speak to me. Then he paused and sat up in his berth.

"Yes. He's given me quite the trouble in past experience. Him and the twins enjoy pranking poor sparks who aren't the wiser to have a secure lock on their quarters. I wouldn't worry though, it's mostly the twins who start these things. He can give you that look and you can just tell he's trying to act innocent. That was a stupid move you pulled back in the cave. He could have just flicked you and you would have offlined." he lectured me.

"Look who's talking? 'Let's inject myself with synthetic energon! That'll go well!'. Besides, I couldn't have just let Jazz die in there," I joked.

He looked over my half blue and red painted Cybertronian body then attempted to speak. "I need to rest... go find something else to do." Yep. He was back to his old grump of a self.

I walked off to find an activity to keep me occupied.

**AN: **

** This time, gave ya a small insight into his looks. Anyway, it hurts my eyes and fingers to type Jazz speaking, even though he is one of my favorite characters. Anyway, 'til all are one- err, next chapter**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN**:

**Sorry about updating. First, this entire chapter didn't plan to be as long as I thought it would be, so I ended up adding a ton of other stuff I didn't intend to... ANYWAY! I had a case of writers block, **_**and**_** the internet went down for a few days. Long story short, well, too late for that, here's the chapter:**

I came into the rec room and found the kids playing a human game, basketball as they called it. So I sat down and watched as Jack, Raf, and Miko passing the ball around shooting into rings on stationed on the wall. After about three klicks Jack came over to the bench I was sitting on and asked me if I wanted to join in.

"I don't think it'd be very fair on your team, me being twenty feet tall now. I'm content just watching," I responded. I'd never played basketball much less heard of it, but now I knew what the younglings were watching on the television yesterday.

"Alrighty then. Let me know if you change your mind," he called back to me from in the middle of the main floor. The rec room was a large underground, well, room as you could guess. The ceiling was one hundred feet tall and the room was only accessible by the elevator in the main command center. There were plenty of other rooms underneath the base as well such as the target practice room slash weapons testing room, also known as the Alamo. Under that was the rec room, and beneath that was the storage quarters for extra energon not in the tanks and for crates slash boxes not currently in use... or for parts to repair 'The Hatchet's' broken parts. Under _that_ were several other rooms I hadn't been to.

I watched intently as Jack lined up for a shot halfway down the floor and practically chucked it. I don't know how humans knew magic, but he made it in perfectly. Not that this wasn't exciting and all that, but I had legitimate other stuff I had to get done, such as my latest assignment from Ratchet, cataloging energon stockpiles in the storage rooms, so I pushed myself off of the long bench and stood up. I admit, it was certainly strange to look down on my friends who, only a month ago, were the same height at me. I walked over to the elevator made for Autobots and stepped into it pressing floor zero on the button pad and waiting as the machine carried me down stairs.

I found some interesting stuff down there while I was working, cool weapons, like a Path Blaster or two, and some other crap that didn't even belong there. I ended up organizing the whole 2500 square feet area. After I was done I was exhausted, so I marched over to the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor where my quarters were. I took a quick shower and walked in to the command room. I headed over to the computer terminal and I wanted to try something. I imitated what Ratchet did when he broadcasted the signal to my home when we tried to make contact. I sighed, then spoke into the microphone.

**"This is Lotan of the species Conia. I request an audience with the surviving members of my species. Please respond."** I waited several micro-klicks, then spoke again. **"I repeat, this is Lotan on the planet known as Earth. I request the ear of my people. Please respond."** No answer. Optimus and Jazz entered the room to see me hanging my shoulders and walked over to where I was standing.

"As I said Lotan, they may simply not be able to resp-"

**"This is the current leader of the former Conians, Theton. We read you, Lotan, and it is great to hear your voice again," **a man responded in my native tongue. I looked over my shoulder to see the communication system lighting up with the message. **"I apologize if you attempted to contact us before, a... guest damaged our communications array,"** the man said and I heard someone in the background.

**"Me Grimlock sorry. Me Grimlock not mean to," **he apologized in English. Jazz perked up at the name. He jogged over to the terminal and spoke into it.

**"Grimlock? Wow it's a small universe, good ta see ya, man."**

** "Me Grimlock hear him Jazz. Is that you Jazz?" **Grimlock spoke through the comm array.

**"Is there any other 'Tronian dat speaks like dis? 'Course it's me. What'r you doing with da Conians?" **Jazz inquired of his long lost friend. According to the history pad, Grimlock was one of the dino-bots experimented on during the war. I felt bad for any old lug that had been messed around with on the insides, especially Grimlock now that I had heard him talk.

**"Me Grimlock come here in pod after Cyber...tron,"** he struggled with the long word, **"went dark. Him Swoop is here too,"** Grimlock explained.

**"Ya all need to come o'vr here so we can have a big ol' get together. Do ya have a means o' transport off dat rock?" **

** "Pretty sure. Have to check. Me Grimlock have to go. Talk later." **With that, Grimlock left the comm. for Theton and I to have a conversation for the first time in years. Jazz nodded and said a quick farewell before taking three steps back, then turning and walking over to the elevator, leaving room for me to step up to the mic.

**"So what planet are you living on now, Theton?" **I asked. I was generally curious to find out where in the galaxy my home was. Or even another galaxy possibly.

**"We reside on another planet in our home system, Vevis. Surely you've heard of it," **he responded.

**"Vevis! So you're... Vevians?" **I asked the other side of the call.

**"Indeed. If it is contempt with you, may I ask to journey with Grimlock and Swoop to visit you on planet Earth? I grow tired of this planet," **my old friend joked.

**"I'll have to verify with Optimus, but it's a great idea with me. I'll be sure to contact you in one solar cycle with the answer. I have to take my leave now, but it was wonderful to hear you voice again, Theton. I shall see you soon," **I replied leaving time for one last statement from the Vevis Leader.

**"Agreed. I shall see you soon. Tak'motet," **he replied in the ancient tongue.

**"Tak'motet." **With that, I closed the chanel and took a deep breath. I was relieved to see at least _one_ of my friends was still alive, and it was wonderful to talk to him, but there was something... different about him. Couldn't quite put my finger on it though.

I walked off to the elevator and hit the third button taking me to the Alamo. I felt the machine beneath me chug its way down the shaft to the room directly adjacent to the main command room slash second floor.

I arrived to see that Jazz was already there shooting off a Lithium Blaster at his target at least fifty yards away – pretty impressive considering the limited range of that particular blaster. Being a saboteur, he was already a great shot, but I suppose there's no such thing as too much practice.

He carefully took aim, setting up his shot, then did something that scared the scrap out of me. He pulled the trigger and automatic shotgun fire plagued the dummy. He looked over to see me standing next to him with wide optics.

"Yeah, Ah got bored one day an' decided to mod' a gun. As ya can see, turned out for da best," he chuckled. "Ah know what gun Ah'll be using next time."

"That's... that's not even supposed to be a semi-automatic gun, what in the world did you do to it?" I was still staring at the shredded target. I feel bad for the next 'con to cross Jazz while he's carrying that monstrosity.

"Eh, just a lil' tweakin' ere and dere," he replied as he bent over to grab another clip of ammo for the gattling-shotgun. He fired another clip in rapid succession with the last.

"A little?! You know what, I'm not even going to ask."

"That'd be for da best. As Ah always say, never ask questions ya don't want to know answers fo'. So what beings you down 'ere, Lot? Ya know, ya need a cooler name – somethin Cybertronian, like... Dayracer- no no - Daybreaker... ya know... like day break-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. And I'll take it into consideration when I'm fully Cybertronian. Just came down to get a little target practice. If I'm going to be in a war when I'm done with this transformation, I need to know how to fight. You having a good time down here?" I asked the silver red mech.

"Yeah, Ah guess. It's always fun for da first breem'r two. Speakin' of da _trans_formation, any new _inform_ation?" he returned with a question.

"Plenty, I'm just lucky it doesn't really come up in the middle of something. It's gotten so bad I started _saying_ random things now too. I've been relaying them to Ratchet as they come to me. All in all, I'm doing well... thanks for asking."

"Ah ain't about ta lose one of mah own soldiers 'fore Ah even get 'em," he replied. I could tell from his character, he was a caring mech and watched out for those under his command. I'd bet he'd even give his life for them. I let out a little laugh then said a farewell before heading up to the command room.

Ratchet, Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee – basically all of the other mechs besides Jazz – were in the battle room when I arrived talking about some recently acquired information, energon mines, Megatron – the usual. When the elevator door opened, I saw all of them staring at me. I looked both ways with my eyes and wrang my hands. Their stares were getting to me. Was I in trouble?

"Am I having a bad hair day?" I tried to lighten the mood. Optimus walked over to me and bent down to me.

"Lo- Daybreaker, we may have found a way to remove the ancient information occupying your mind."

"Lemme guess, Jazz told you to call me that," I guessed with a pretty good reason behind it.

"He told me that you had decided on a Cybertronian title. If you do not wish for me to refer to you as-"

"No, no, Daybreaker's fine," I interrupted him. "So what's the POA?" I inquired.

"A cordical psychic patch, which will be retrieved by a stealth team aboard the _Nemisis_. Once acquired, they will be Ground Bridged back to base. One end of the cord will be attached to your helm, the other to a computer. When your mind is access, Ratchet will attempt to scrub the datacores containing the information, _after_ your transformation is complete," he explained.

I paused for a moment taking in the information. "Okay... but there's one small problem. The stealth team," I pointed out a small flaw.

"A two mech team has already volunteered: Arcee and Bumblebee," Optimus continued. I was taken by surprise that _anyone_ would want to volunteer for me, much less two. What had I ever done for them?

I paused for a moment. "Okay, so when is this... raid?" I questioned.

"Early next cycle. It would be best if we were to attempt a rescue mission whilst they are recharging. Do you approve?" he questioned.

"Huh? Yeah, sounds good. Sorry I was having a information flash as I call them. Hey Ratchet," I called over to him and relayed the data transcribed to me. He nodded and typed in the information into the computer, adding another part on to the formula. _At this rate, the equation will be done by next week, _I thought to myself.

"Lot," Ratchet pulled me over to the med-bay. "I've calculated that, at the current rate of your metamorphosis, you will be fully Cybertronian in around three cycles, but what alarms me, is that the formula, at its current rate, will take longer than three cycles to complete, leaving 'x' amount of time after you're fully Cybertronian. Now, most of the information's power has gone into converting you from flesh to machine, but after that's through, I fear that the information will be transcribed quicker, which on one servo is good, but on the other, it could corrupt your processor causing your current mind to... dissipate," he rambled. I took in the information replaying what he had just said in my CPU.

"So... I won't be me," I put it in Layman's terms. He blinked.

"... Isn't that what I just said?"

"Right, well anyway, I've still got," I glanced down at my wrist then back up to him, "three cycles give or take. That's plenty of time. If the mission is a success, then we'll have the information out by the time it's completely taken over my mind, right?" I stated more than asked the medic.

"Well yes, but that doesn't mean you won't be spending most of your time in the med-bay," he replied.

I rolled my optics. "Ratchet, truth be told, what's that gonna help? I could be doing much more productive things like..." I was pretty sure if I said 'horsing around' or 'games', it would get me a bonk on the head with a wrench. "Cleaning?"

He scoffed. "Until I clear you for active duty, you can do whatever I say you can, so you better get comfortable." He turned around which was an unspoken signal that the conversation was over. I shrugged and walked out of the bay and over to where Bulkhead and Optimus were standing. The Prime was intently staring up at a monitor mounted to the wall while Bulkhead was scanning for energon signals.

He turned his head to see me standing next to him and greeted me. I responded with a question. "What's Optimus looking at?"

"Apparently, there's this old prophecy in a book about some mumbo jumbo going to happen when 'forty-nine spheres align'. Load of scrap if you ask me," he explained.

"... I see. Anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"Unless you have any information up in there about where a mine is, probably not. We're running kind of low on energon at the moment, and Optimus told me to keep an eye out. You can help watch if you want though," he offered. I grunted.

"Yeah alright." I took a step forward and glanced up to see the a grid on the screen. After about five klicks with nothing happening, I walked off to my quarters and opened the door. When I walked in I saw that my shelf had been filled with data pads.

**:Optimus,: **I called over the comm. **:thanks for the pads you gave me.:**

** :You are welcome, Daybreaker. Now I must return to my work,: **he replied. I nodded then I realized that he probably couldn't see that. I took three steps forward and picked the first pad off the shelf and activated it. It contained all kinds of science-y stuff that I had no idea what it meant. On to the next one.

The slightly green datapad was a literature collection and partially a poetry montage, which never really interested me even when I was Conian. After several more choices, I found one that caught my attention: mathematics. I scanned it over looking at the equations and trying to make use of them. Well it turns out that a race that's much more advanced than mine would probably have much more complex math. I'd need Ratchet's help on this one.

I eventually gave up and laid down on my berth for a total of about three micro-klicks until I realized I hadn't had my energon for the night. I sighed and sat up putting my pedes over the edge of the bed then I shifted my weight and stood up. I slumbered over to the desk to pick up my energon cube when I saw a blueprint on the table that I hadn't put there. I looked over it and found it was the plans for a custom weapon specially crafted for a mech my expected body size – forty feet. Ratchet had probably left it there by accident and I would return it in the morning.

When my cube had been filled I returned to my berth and sat down. As I drank I thought about the day's events, the mission, the volunteers, et cetera. I was shaken from my thoughts when I heard light pede steps outside my quarters. I turned my heard quickly and stood up taking one step. As my pede landed, the noise stopped. As far as I knew, the only bot who had a light enough stepping weight was Arcee, and she was already recharging, well, I bet Jazz could if he wanted to, but the question then would be why would he be sneaking around in the base? Regardless, I had to take a look. . After a few micro-klicks, the sounds continued moving away from my quarters. I decided to poke my helm out and take a look, so I tip-toed over to the desk and placed my cube down then walked over to the door.

I entered the code and the door opened leaving me cringing as it was slightly rusty making a small screeching sound as it was pulled along the track with pistons.

_ What I'd give for a silent alt-mode right about now... or any alt-mode..._I thought to myself as I tip-toed along the floor following the sounds. They stopped just outside Optimus' quarters as I listened from around the corner. I stuck half of my helm around the wall and took a quick glance at two areas of distorted space lurking outside the door. Why they were there I had no idea. Maybe they didn't know that Optimus was in the command room still. One of them extended a warble of a servo towards the door and placed a line around then stood back. He pulled out a fully visible device and activated a button on it.

With in a nano-klick the line ignited and started cutting an area around the door. That was enough for me to get involved with a possible threat, so I unsheathed a servo-blaster and turned the corner firing a few shots at the intruders. They shifted quickly and I saw a slight glowing in one of their servos. I dived to the other side of the hallway barely dodging a sniper round.

**:Optimus, we've got intruders near your quarters. I'll fend them off until you can get here.: **I said quickly over the comm.

**:Understood. Ratchet, wake the others.: ** I heard him say before the comm. channel was closed. I fired a rapid succession of shots towards the enemy apparently damaging one of their cloaks revealing a startled mech underneath who was frantically tapping his device attempting to make it work again. He was fully black with two red shaded eyes and a faceplate with a permanent war plate seared onto it. He made a few clicks before I hit him in the helm, offlining him immediately.

He must have been communicating with the other because it turned and the veil dashed the other way and around a corner. I cursed as it disappeared, finding them in plain sight was hard enough, with it roaming the base, no one was safe. I heard a clash and I sprinted around the wall to find that the mech had run straight into Optimus and currently had a blaster pointed right at his cloak of a head.

"Reveal yourself," Optimus ordered. It turned to run but he grabbed it's arm. It tapped a pad on its arm disabling the cloak. As it dissipated I stared at a mech similar to the one currently offline. "What is your designation and what were you attempting in my quarters?" It made nothing but a few clicks before it pressed a button dead center of his chassis. It started blinking more and more rapidly before Optimus realized what it was doing.

"It's a trap! Evacuate!" He ran towards me pushing me around the corner again before a blast detonated and seared the wall behind us and the ones adjacent to it.

**:Ratchet. Gather everybot in the command room. We are having a conference.:**

** A/N:**

** Sorry about that long-butt update time thingy, I'm not even going to try to excuse it. I introduced a few new characters to look forwards to in later chapters. Speaking of later chapters, until then. ^_^**


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